Meegwetch, Speaker. Remarks in Anishininiimowin. Good morning.

There is a housing crisis in the north. Kiiwetinoong and other areas need 1,500 housing units to clear the wait-list for affordable housing.

So I ask, why is Ontario putting the federal funding that can help the north with new affordable housing at risk?

My question is for the Minister of Energy. Speaker, access to reliable, affordable and clean energy continues to be a key driver for Ontario’s economic growth and electrification.

At the same time, our government is ensuring we are using every tool in our tool box to save Ontario households money, especially during a period when families are struggling as a result of the Liberal carbon tax.

On April 1, Ontarians woke up to the worst April Fool’s Day joke, as the federal Liberals hiked the carbon tax by 23%. This is just the next step in their disastrous plan to nearly triple this tax over the course of the next six years, making everything more expensive for everyone in our province.

Can the minister please tell the House how our government is ensuring that Ontarians have access to clean, reliable and emission-free energy, while the opposition wants to take a step backwards and lean on a terrible carbon—

Interjections.

I do appreciate the question from the member opposite, but Ontario is actually not putting the federal funding at risk. What has happened is, the federal government has unilaterally changed its mind on what we should fund.

As the member opposite will know, the National Housing Strategy was a 10-year strategy which was guided by a couple of principles: building additional units and renovating old units. Ontario had a target of 19,000 new units over 10 years. We’ve hit 11,000 of those 19,000 units. We had a target of 23,000 renovations. Because of the horrific record of the previous Liberal government, we have had to spend an exorbitant amount of money renovating and rehabilitating stock that would otherwise have been taken out of commission. We’ve done that in co-operation with the service managers, including many of the service managers in the north, and what we have done is renovate, rehabilitate and put back into circulation 123,000 units; that’s 426% of our target.

What we won’t do, though, is what the federal government is asking us to do right now—unless members agree, of course: to remove the power from our municipal partners and the service managers and direct what should happen in the north and in other parts of the province. We’re not there—

Oh, Mr. Speaker, where do I begin? This is incredibly rich.

Clearly in this budget, we have a path to balance, the only major province—and certainly, the federal government does not have a path to balance.

Mr. Speaker, coming from the previous Liberal government—they had 15 years. They racked up their spending. They racked up the debt.

I’m going to ask this House: Did we get more subways from their 15 years? Did we get more hospitals? Did we get more transit? Did we get long-term-care beds built? Did they build the houses? No, they did not, because they wasted taxpayer money.

That’s the difference between our government and their government. We’re getting it done for the people of Ontario.

Interjections.

I’m going to praise this Minister of Housing, who is getting all types of houses built right across the province. I’m going to praise this Minister of Economic Development, who is building economic prosperity right across the province. I’m going to praise this Minister of Health, who is getting more hospitals built and supporting our health care system. And then, I’m going to turn to my right, and I’m going to praise this Minister of Transportation, who is building highways, the 413, and transit right across the province.

But I’m not going to stop there. I’m going to go to the Minister of Energy, who is building nuclear—including Pickering, Darlington and Bruce Power—right across the province; and finally, the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, who is building the Ring of Fire in the Far North and bringing prosperity to the north.

Speaker, again, there’s a housing crisis in Kiiwetinoong, not only just in urban areas, but also on-reserve. The need for housing is very high across Kiiwetinoong. I have people who are living in canvas tents in the north. The housing supply in the north doesn’t meet the demand. As I said, there are 1,500 families waiting for affordable housing, and we cannot continue to play games with the federal government.

Can this government work with the federal partners to ensure that we get the funding needed to address the housing crisis, and that we make sure there is affordable housing in the Kenora district?

Government House leader.

Supplementary question.

The Minister of Finance can reply.

The Minister of Energy.

I won’t repeat what my friend has said in the previous answer, but I will say this: We are aware that some of the isolated First Nations communities’ populations are shrinking. Those folks are moving to towns and cities in the southern part of northern Ontario, the Kenora and Thunder Bay districts respectively.

That’s why we recognized that there needed to be an enhancement in our investments in the Indigenous Supportive Housing Program, and to the tune of nearly a 40% increase; that would be $41.5 million annually. We have really good relationships with administrators on the ground who are trying their best and, frankly, doing well at meeting those demands.

Back to the isolated communities: It’s our hope—and I hope it’s the same for the member opposite—that by improving economic prosperity in our isolated communities, by thinking about all-season roads and increasing the number of communities that have access to clean, affordable, green electricity, and advancing some resource projects throughout northern Ontario, we will be able to come up with alternative solutions to build affordable housing in isolated communities in northern Ontario. We will have a more equitable sense of economic prosperity for all folks who live in northern Ontario, especially in the isolated communities.

Thank you to the minister for his response.

Unlike the previous Liberal government, which saddled families with sky-high hydro bills, our government is taking a thoughtful approach that keeps costs down for people and businesses and delivers energy security.

I am proud to be part of a government that has been a strong advocate for Ontario’s incredible nuclear industry and the skilled tradespeople who work in it.

Speaker, it is disappointing to see the NDP and the Liberals in this Legislature completely neglect Ontario’s nuclear industry and, instead, support a carbon tax that burdens families not just in Ontario, but all across this great country.

Unlike the opposition, our government will continue to fight the costly Liberal carbon tax and put more money into people’s pockets.

Can the minister please explain how our government is supporting Ontarians and our nuclear industry?

Mr. Speaker, I can. We have a plan. It’s called Powering Ontario’s Growth, and it does not include a carbon tax. As a matter of fact, we are completely opposed to a carbon tax, especially the one that went up 23% on April 1, led by Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh and supported by the queen of the carbon tax, Bonnie Crombie.

We are bringing in clean, reliable, affordable and safe nuclear energy by refurbishing the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, Darlington, Bruce. All of those major component replacements are ahead of schedule and on budget, and they’re providing 50% to 60% of our electricity going forward—and not just that: Because of the work that’s being done on those refurbishment projects, we are very comfortable in moving Ontario forward as a world leader on small modular reactor development. As a matter of fact, we have the first SMR under construction at the Darlington site right now—something all of us in this Legislature should be very proud of.

As a matter of fact, every single Premier in Canada is against Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax, including the Liberals and the NDPers.

We won’t be bringing in a carbon tax. We’re giving people tax breaks, and that has resulted in the explosion that we’ve seen in new investments in our province—billions and billions of dollars in new investments.

We were talking about housing earlier, and the member from northern Ontario, from Kenora, was talking about the fact that we’re allowing northern communities to connect to our electricity grid.

One of the great projects that we have funded and that is almost completed is the Wataynikaneyap power project—1,800 kilometres of transmission line, connecting 16 different fly-in communities to our clean, green, reliable electricity grid that’s going to enable new houses to be built throughout Kiiwetinoong, North Caribou Lake First Nation, Kingfisher Lake First Nation, Pikangikum and all those great communities. And we’re moving forward on another project with the folks at Matawa. It doesn’t include a carbon tax. We can do it, and we’re getting it done.

Supplementary question.

Minister of Transportation.

My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, I’m sure all of us in this House enjoy the opportunities we get to take a vacation.

Unfortunately, last week, over 500 staff at GO Transit learned that they were not allowed to have vacation for the rest of this year, and why? Because, sadly, the government has not invested in staff appropriately to pay, to finance and to work with the 15% schedule increase they proposed for the GO train that will go through Milton—coincidentally, the place I’m sure this Premier wants to win a by-election.

Metrolinx has a million-dollar CEO. Meanwhile, they have 82 vice-presidents at Metrolinx, and they have a marketing department of over 400 staff. But we aren’t hiring enough workers for GO trains, to make sure people can take vacations.

Can the Premier explain to this House if this makes any sense?

Meanwhile, while this government is building the paycheques of 82 Metrolinx vice-presidents, 400 marketing staff, this government has nothing to say—not a word—about the fact that people can’t take a vacation for the rest of this year.

So I want to ask my friend opposite, seriously: Can he commit to this House that he personally will look into this matter? Will he flow the funds necessary from the treasury to make sure GO Transit workers can take the vacation they earned—and Metrolinx executives can finally be called to heel on their incredible greed and compensation at the taxpayers’ expense?

Interjections.

My question is for the Premier.

Last week, the Premier finally admitted that oil and gas greed was raising gas prices in Ontario. He said, “It’s disgusting what the oil companies are doing. They’re gouging people.” Yes, they are.

In 2022 alone, the carbon tax went up two cents a litre, but fossil fuel giants raised their profit alone, per litre, by 18 cents. The same year they made record profits, and the same year their executives gave themselves a 20% pay raise. Unlike the carbon tax, you don’t get any of that money back; they get it.

My question: If the Premier really wants to get big oil out of our pockets, will he commit to a credible clean energy plan that benefits all Ontarians, not just the CEO of Enbridge and his million-dollar friends?

How could they have used their time? They could have come up with a credible climate plan that cuts pollution and puts money back in people’s pockets to save on household energy, transportation and food. Instead, they play politics to distract from the fact that they don’t have a plan.

Speaker, to the minister: If he’s so concerned about cutting costs for Ontarians, what will he do to get Ontario off the greed-powered roller coaster ride of fossil fuel prices?

Let’s unpack that for a minute, Mr. Speaker. What the member is doing is defending a massive increase in the carbon tax. Let’s put it all together. The Greens, the NDP and the Liberals want you to pick a carbon tax, which is hurting every single person, not only in the province, but the entire country. The NDP and the Liberals want to end gas to people’s homes, which would cause people—

Interjections.

And then they doubled down by suggesting that we should put millions of people out of work; billions of dollars of economic activity should go away.

Let’s be clear: The oil and gas sector in this country gives us billions of dollars of economic activity. It puts thousands of people to work.

The manufacturing might of Ontario is what powers our oil and gas sector. It is what has given us an advantage. It is what has given us low energy prices. It is what has made our homes affordable.

They can stand up for all of that. We’ll stand up for the people of the province.

Mr. Speaker, what doesn’t make sense is the NDP’s consistent objection to building public transit. Every step of the way—whether it’s the Liberals or the NDP—when we invest in GO Transit, when we invest in GO trains, when we invest in building new lines, what do both the opposition leader and the Liberal Party do? They vote against every single one of them, whether it’s building the Hazel McCallion line in Mississauga and Brampton, whether it’s building the Ontario Line or the Scarborough subway extension.

We’re increasing service on the GO line by over 15%—the largest in over a decade. What do these members do? They stand against that growth in public transit.

We’re going to continue to build for this province. We’re going to continue to build for the next generations, because we saw what happened for 15 years under the previous Liberal government. They did absolutely nothing. We’ll continue to build.

Could you imagine, whether it be the NDP or whether it be the Liberals, what Ontario would look like if they had their say? We have seen their record on public transit. Every single time we bring a new line or a new investment into this province, what do they say? “Absolutely not.” They’re not going to build it.

The Scarborough subway extension—the people of Scarborough were ignored for 15 years under that previous government. We’re making those investments.

GO rail transit—a 15% increase in service, 300 new weekly trips on that service line. And we have members in this House getting up to object to that investment.

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to build public transit.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As you know, of course, we’ve been working very closely with the minister of seniors. But ultimately, what we’re doing across the province of Ontario is ensuring that we rebuild the capacity that was so sorely missing for over a generation, under the Liberals and the NDP.

We have one of the—if not the most successful Minister of Long-Term Care in the history of the province, who is bringing forward thousands of units in every part of the province. Every single time that we have done that, the ironic thing is that they vote against the very same seniors they get up in the House today and say they support. They vote against them.

When the Minister of Long-Term Care brings forward billions of dollars for new homes, they vote against it. When he brings billions of dollars forward for additional care in those homes, they vote against it. When he has brought forward initiatives to increase the food budgets so that—

Interjection.

So I say to the member opposite, if you support seniors, vote in favour of the initiatives that we bring forward.

I said we had a question earlier today about the National Housing Strategy. Do you know who could help us ensure that we get the billions of dollars that are owed to the province of Ontario? The federal NDP. Do you know how they could do that? By voting against the federal budget or—because I know how important it is that they continue to support their friends, the Liberals in Ottawa—they could insist that the federal government honour its agreement of 2018 with respect to the National Housing Strategy, which will allow us to continue to build thousands of homes for the people of the province of Ontario, in co-operation with our municipal partners, so that we can continue those investments in long-term care, affordable housing, attainable housing. Do the right thing—

Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

I understand the member opposite’s confusion. After all, it was our government that invested $200 million to help municipalities repair, rehabilitate and expand critical drinking water, waste water, and really prepare for climate change action. But the Liberals, who she sits next to, voted no. Kathleen Wynne even said that her biggest regret as leader was not supporting housing in Ontario—something that our government is doing in a responsible manner.

When it comes to supporting wetlands, we invested $30 million in the wetlands conservation program, but her Liberal seatmates there beside her voted no.

And when it came to protecting critical waterways, this government is investing good, critical dollars. But again, we have a Liberal Party who voted no and are not getting us the support we need from their federal counterparts.

We expanded parks. We’re protecting lands. We’re reducing emissions. In fact, in Ontario alone, we reduced emissions by 86%.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. The Liberal carbon tax is driving up the cost of everything in our province. It’s punishing Ontario families with higher grocery costs, higher fuel costs, higher heating bills and more. The carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, and her minivan caucus haven’t seen a tax that they don’t like. That’s why they keep voting against every cost-saving measure our government has implemented to bring affordability for Ontarians.

Speaker, we know the Liberals will stop at nothing to try to reach into the pockets of workers and families.

Unlike the Liberals, our government will always advocate on behalf of Ontarians and ensure that we are putting more money back into their pockets.

Through you, Speaker: Can the minister please share what our government is doing to make life more affordable for people in Ontario?

There’s nothing worse for people and businesses in Ontario than the Liberal carbon tax. It drives up the cost of food. It drives up the cost of filling up gas. It drives up the cost of everything. It drives up the cost of everything.

Under the leadership of the carbon tax queen, Bonnie Crombie, the Liberals in this House would rather have Ontarians pay more in taxes and earn smaller paycheques to feed their families, instead of joining our government in calling for an end to the carbon tax. That’s not what their constituents elected them to do.

Can the parliamentary assistant to the minister tell the House how our government is standing up for Ontarians and fighting the Liberal carbon tax?

Thank you to the great member from Markham–Unionville. The time to scrap the tax is now. We hear it from Ontarians, and we hear it from people all across Canada.

Whether federally or provincially, the Liberal Party continues to be the party of higher taxes. Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals are on a mission to raise taxes and make life more expensive for the people of Ontario, but I can tell you with certainty, Speaker, that this government is not going to let that happen. The Premier and this team are going to keep costs down, create more good-paying jobs and build more infrastructure that keeps our economy growing, and we’re going to do that without implementing any new taxes on the people or businesses of Ontario.

Speaker, just the other week, the federal Liberals released their annual budget, and what struck me the most was that the Prime Minister once again proved to Ontarians—and, indeed, all Canadians—that he has no intention of scrapping the carbon tax. This was a missed opportunity to join Ontario—and, I might add, other provinces and Premiers from all political stripes—in our fight to keep costs down and make life more affordable for people and businesses right here in Ontario.

But do you know something, Speaker? Here in Ontario, we are not going to stop fighting. We are not going to stop calling on the federal Liberals to eliminate the carbon tax. And we are not going to stop putting money back in the pockets of the people of Ontario.